I'm not an avid TV show watcher, but was intrigued enough to download this for free from Amazon.com. I had occasionally watched the original Lindsay Wagner series in the 1970s and I liked the strength of her character and the fact that, despite her special abilities, the original Bionic Woman remained very human. So... I finally got around to watching the pilot for the new series last night, and found it slightly surprising and a little better than expected.
Michelle Ryan's character also starts out as a strong woman, but has a very different background, and a host of somewhat contrived emotional issues which are much more typical of 21st century soapy TV pseudo-drama . She's 24, pregnant, a bartender, and has a strong though problematic relationship with her boyfriend. Ms. Ryan's performance and the show's strong script, however, make her likable and believable - unlike many similarly cast TV heroes and heroines.
We all know the story... Promising young woman is crippled in what appears to be an accident and is given cybernetic limbs and a couple sensory organs. But the pilot also gives us a couple important twists. First - there is the shadowy and ambiguous sociopath played by the excellent Kaytee Sackhoff - is she going to be a mentor? Will she remain a murderous enemy? Or is it possible she will be both? Also, Miguel Ferrer's Jonas is perhaps the paradigm of the military organization that created the Bionic Woman - although the character promises depth, he shows up in the pilot as a ruthless, mercenary, military bureaucrat.
The pilot was well written, well acted, and well directed. The special effects are adequate but borderline cliché for scifi TV today.
All considered - worth a try.
Michelle Ryan's character also starts out as a strong woman, but has a very different background, and a host of somewhat contrived emotional issues which are much more typical of 21st century soapy TV pseudo-drama . She's 24, pregnant, a bartender, and has a strong though problematic relationship with her boyfriend. Ms. Ryan's performance and the show's strong script, however, make her likable and believable - unlike many similarly cast TV heroes and heroines.
We all know the story... Promising young woman is crippled in what appears to be an accident and is given cybernetic limbs and a couple sensory organs. But the pilot also gives us a couple important twists. First - there is the shadowy and ambiguous sociopath played by the excellent Kaytee Sackhoff - is she going to be a mentor? Will she remain a murderous enemy? Or is it possible she will be both? Also, Miguel Ferrer's Jonas is perhaps the paradigm of the military organization that created the Bionic Woman - although the character promises depth, he shows up in the pilot as a ruthless, mercenary, military bureaucrat.
The pilot was well written, well acted, and well directed. The special effects are adequate but borderline cliché for scifi TV today.
All considered - worth a try.
